West Bloomfield teacher blends economics lesson with field trip to Detroit

West Bloomfield H.S. economics teacher Aaron Avery (right) talks to his freshman class about the field trip they made into the city of Detroit where they toured many parts of the city. The field trip was part of a program to get the students to discuss the preconceived impressions they had of Detroit vs what they actually witnessed, and the future of Detroit. The Oakland Press/DOUG BAUMAN

West Bloomfield High School teacher Aaron Avery took his two freshman economics classes to a place that's about 20 miles away, but foreign to many: The city of Detroit.

"Let's see if we can expose them to what Detroit was, what Detroit is and what Detroit could be," Avery said. "A lot of them had never been there before."

The field trip came as part of a section of the class that studies economic challenges such as unemployment and poverty. The students' assignment is to complete a case study of the city's economic challenges.

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"They're seeing this contrast; it's like, wow, what happened between the 1920s, when Detroit was booming, and now?" the economics teacher said. "Clearly, this was the place to be."

The all-day trip started in the Palmer Woods area, a tiny neighborhood that sits on the west side of Woodward Avenue, in contrast to the near-urban prairie of the area near the former Michigan State Fairgrounds on the east side of Woodward.

Making its way south, the school bus drove through other historic neighborhoods, such as the Boston-Edison district. Students saw homes once occupied by people such as Sebastian S. Kresge, the founder of Kmart; Henry Ford; Berry Gordy Jr. and others. The students also passed by major auto factories that once drove the city's economy and now sit vacant.

"What you hear about Detroit -- I thought that's what we'd see, but it was the complete opposite; it was really pretty," said student Alexis Tanguay.

The auto industry is Detroit's "great strength and our great weakness," Avery said.

Student Cameron Dickinson said: "I feel like Detroit will never be the way it used to be, with the big automakers and the Big Three ... but I feel like since they're building from the inside out, like the Compuware building ... I think Detroit will look pretty good in 10 or 20 years, and will draw a lot of attention and a lot of young people will come there."

Dickinson's classmate Cody Wilson was also cautiously optimistic.

"I think Detroit's future is a good one, because I think (it's) coming back. It's not going to be immediate, but I think it's going to happen in my lifetime ... in 10 or 15 years, you could see it come back to (being) the city it was," Wilson said.

Students were surprised to see the number of people from all walks of life who were walking around downtown Detroit during the day, Avery said.

"What they're realizing is, you take the same precautions in Detroit that you take anywhere else ... we're not saying you're going to (be able to) go find the most rundown neighborhood and go hang out, but you're not going to do that anywhere," Avery said.

"It really struck me that even I had never done some of these things," Avery said. A walk around downtown was on the itinerary, including the Detroit riverfront and architectural landmarks such as the Guardian Building, an art deco skyscraper that's home to Wayne County offices.

Paige Hartman said she asked representatives from the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. where they saw the city being in 10 or 15 years.

"They can't really tell, because we're the ones that are going to shape Detroit," Hartman said.

"In the next 10 years, we're going to be the young business investors that are going to be investing there, and they just are trying to help build that for us," she said.

The freshmen at West Bloomfield High School might be more optimistic about the Motor City than previous generations: When the students in Avery's class were asked whether they'd consider moving to Detroit or going to school there, 15 of the 25 students raised their hands.

"We're scared of each other," their teacher said.

Suburban perceptions of the city have "not just a social cost, but a major economic cost," Avery said.